Mine
by Aesthetic Morphine
Summary: Paulina's obsession with Phantom wins out over her common sense. How can he keep his secret a secret when he's bound to her bed, under her constant watch? Now it's up to his friends to find him and rescue him from this nightmare.
1. Blood Blossom

**In which Paulina is batshit insane. I don't own DP.**

* * *

As far as bad weekends go, this one took the cake. Danny awoke to a bitter taste in his mouth, like a crude acidic mix between blood and ectoplasm. His arms were suspended awkwardly above his head. He tried to remember where he was. Going through the "Emergency Situation Protocols" his PE teacher had engraved in his mind.

He opened his eyes and the pounding in his head increased tenfold. The room was _bright_. Quickly, he shut his eyes again and groaned. The last thing he remembered was fighting the Box Ghost outside of a Mall parking lot. Interrupted while he was shopping for a gift for Sam's birthday, he remembered. Danny mumbled a curse under his breath. She was going to be so pissed. The Box Ghost...electricity, like one of his parent's inventions, and then lights out.

This wasn't getting him anywhere. He felt the roof of his mouth with his tongue, hoping for some moisture. What'd a guy have to do for a drink around here?

**Step Two: Assess the Situation**

He opened his eyes again, blinking a few times as his eyes adjusted. There were posters on the wall, posters of...of him? He blinked again. He looked downwards. The bed he was sitting on was a light pink color. In fact, it hurt his eyes to stare at it for too long.

"I've been spending way too much time with Sam," he mused. Danny turned his head to the nightstand beside him, his face contorting into an expression of horror at the numerous Danny Phantom plushies that were scattered on it.

"I knew Vlad had issues, but _this_?"

**Step Three: Solve the Problem**

Danny turned his attention to the restraints around his wrists. Glowing green chains were looped around his hands, stuck tight to the headboard. He tried to move his wrists, but the chains didn't budge. Danny grimaced and looked around the room for something he could pick the lock with. He spotted a box of bobby pins on the dresser, but it was too far away. Even though he knew what the outcome would be, Danny tried to go intangible. A quick shock told him that these chains were ghost-proof. He sighed and closed his eyes, at a loss for what to do.

The door creaked open, just a bit, and Paulina stepped in with a tray of cookies. Her hair was up in a bun and she was in her pajama shorts and a blue t-shirt. Danny swallowed nervously.

"P-Paulina?"

"Ghost boy, you're awake!"

She ran to his side and cleared the nightstand of the plushies, putting the tray of cookies down.

"I know ghosts don't eat but," she picked up a cookie and put it up to Danny's face, "want some?"

Danny frowned and moved his head to the side, away from the cookie. "Uhm," he cleared his throat, "no thanks."

"Oh," Paulina sighed and put the cookie back on the tray. "I hope you're not mad at me. Did I hurt you? Dash promised me it wouldn't hurt you!"

"What...what hit me?" he asked, his headache resurfacing at Paulina's shrill voice. She pulled out a glowing green net from under the bed, smiling. Danny flinched at the sight of it. He recognized it as one of his parent's.

"Just this! But don't worry, I won't use it on you again. Unless you misbehave."

"How'd you get all this?"

Paulina flicked her hand as if the question wasn't relevant.

"Dash stole it from some ghost hunter's house while he was getting tortured... I mean, tutored. But that's enough out of you," she shoved a cookie into his mouth, silencing him. Danny scowled and spit out the cookie. It was _burnt_.

He was surprised when Paulina gasped and put a hand up to her mouth, feigning shock. Then her eyebrows pinched inwards in anger and she put her hand on her hip.

"Look what you've done to my bed! It's going to take me forever to wash that out! Look, there's even some blood—or ectogunk, whatever it's called!"

She backhanded him across the cheek, leaving an imprint of her tiny hand. Danny could only stare back in shock as Paulina crossed her arms.

"Hmph. I told you not to make me angry. And here I was, trying to be nice."

"Why'd you bring me here?" he asked when his voice came back to him. He licked at the little bit of blood on the inside of his cheek where Paulina had slapped him.

Paulina's features softened as she took a seat next to him.

"Because I love you, ghost boy. You're mine. Forever and ever." She slowly laid down on his lap, blinking up at him with full lashes. "Don't you love me too?"

Danny sputtered. "I hardly know you!"

"Oh, there'll be plenty of time to get to know each other." She ran a hand up and down his thigh. Danny fidgeted, trying to get her off him.

"Stop that!"

"I knew you'd be mine someday," she said dreamily. Her hand moved upwards towards his abdomen. She prodded at his stomach with a finger. "You're so firm."

Danny felt his face heat up in a blush. She was completely off her rocker, cuckoo, insane! Psycho ghosts he could deal with, but psycho teenage girls were in a whole 'nother ball park.

"You can't keep me here forever, Paulina," he said, realizing her intentions.

She sat up from her position, glaring at him. "I can do whatever I want."

"I need to protect the town."

"Others can do that."

"They're incapable!"

"You're mine! You're not going anywhere, understand?"

He hadn't noticed she'd been inching closer to him the entire time, her nails digging into the bedsheets the angrier she got. She lifted a hand and grabbed his face, her other hand petting his hair.

"You belong here, with me. We were meant for each other." She closed her eyes and set her forehead against his, the ghost of a smile on her lips. "You'll see that soon enough."

Danny struggled to escape her grasp to no avail. She puckered her lips, her eyes half-lidded as she began to close the gasp between them. Danny did the only thing he could think of to get her off him. He spit on her, a big green and red monster that landed right on her cheek. She recoiled instantly.

"Oooooh!" she seethed, flicking the muck off her face. "Now you've done it!"

She stomped towards the door, shutting it behind her. Danny released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He had to get out of there—and quick. Her struggled against the chains again. Maybe he could loosen them just a bit. A bit was all he needed. Danny struggled until his wrists were red and raw but the chains remained, not deterred even a bit. He tried to go intangible again and again, feeling weaker with every shock that made his hairs stand on end.

The situation was made even worse when Paulina came in holding a bowl.

Danny groaned and slammed his head against the headboard. "I said I'm not hungry!"

"Oh no," said Paulina sweetly. "This isn't for you to eat, silly!"

"Wha...?"

She set the bowl down by the bedside. Danny only caught a glimpse of it, a watery pink substance.

"What's that?"

"Blood Blossom extract." She smiled at him.

Danny felt his throat go dry when Paulina began soaking a rag in it. He already was beginning to feel the effect of the blossom's proximity as a dull ache under his skin."How did you know...?_"_

He let the question linger in the air. He'd always assumed Paulina didn't know the first thing about ghosts—or ghost hunting—for that matter. She folded the rag into a rectangle on her lap.

"Everyone thinks I'm stupid," she said, soaking the cloth in some more liquid, "But I'm not."

Then she put the Blood Blossom soaked rag on his eyes, and he screamed. His back arched in agony as the liquid seeped into his eye sockets, burning away tissue as it went. He reflexively tapped into his power of flight, hoping to get away from the pain, but the chains stopped any struggle and only intensified the agony.

"P-Paulina!" he screamed her name, hoping to invoke pity, but she just sighed next to him. The liquid was dripping down his face. He turned his head this way and that, hoping to throw the rag off, but it stayed put. It felt like his insides were being scorched, like the very skin of his face was being peeled off.

"Anyone ever tell you that you have a really sexy scream?"

His legs kicked out blindly in pain. He struggled fruitlessly against the chains and almost dislocated his shoulder in the process.

"I hate having to hurt you. Just tell me you're sorry and I'll make it stop."

"I-" his back arched again, his throat raw from screaming. "I'm sorry!"

"And you love me."

"I love you!"

Finally, she removed the rag from his face. He panted, trying to catch his breath. It still burned but not as intensely. He realized that the world was black. Danny opened and closed his eyes rapidly, only confirming his suspicion.

"I-I can't see. Paulina, I'm blind!"

He could feel her hovering above him. She touched his face and he flinched away.

"Yuck, that looks pretty nasty. But don't worry, you're already healing. You'll have your beautiful face back soon."

He heard her begin to walk out of the room, taking the bowl of hell-spawn-liquid with her. Paulina stood in the doorway, her hand hovering above the light switch.

"I have school tomorrow. Be good for me while I'm gone, and I promise that when you can see again, I'll pose in some of my most favoritest outfits for you, okay?"

Then she flicked off the lights and closed the door, leaving Danny alone with the sound of his ragged breathing.

* * *

**Reviews would be loved! They're great motivators, y'know.**


	2. Dirty

He'd been so easy to catch. She was expecting a fight, at least something more troublesome than throwing the net over him and watching his eyes close before he'd known what hit him. Dash had helped her drag him to the truck, and later, into her bed. He was the only other person who knew where the hero was, and she'd make sure he'd keep his trap shut.

She'd wanted to put him in the basement in the beginning. Paulina had quickly realized that although more risky, he'd feel more at home in her bed. It was, after all, _their_ bed now. Being so close to him had made her heart race in ways she didn't know was possible. All the other boys were so...mundane, boring, predictable. In the beginning she had relished in the chase that Phantom gave her. She was content in the fact that she'd have him eventually.

But then freshmen year had passed, and she was still without Phantom. It was because that boy never sat still. He was always flying over here, flying over there, fighting this, and then fighting that and disappearing before she could even get a word out. How was she supposed to make him love her if he was always just a blur in the corner of her vision!

She walked to a drawer and pulled out a scrapbook. Grabbing a bottle of water, she sat down on her couch, opening the Phantom-adorned cover. Inside were pictures of her and her Phantom. Him standing next to her in front of the Eiffel tower, him carrying her as they flew off into the sunset, slow-dancing at their prom, holding hands on a bench. They were all photo-shopped, but each picture would become a reality soon. She tenderly caressed the photos with her finger.

Paulina knew he'd come around eventually. He was being so mean to her now because he'd forgotten what love felt like. It was romantic, in a way, like Romeo and Juliet. The veil of death separated them, but she'd work through it, and find a way to love him. She was positive he'd do the same once he realized how much he meant to her.

Paulina didn't want to push him away before their relationship had ever really blossomed. She was beginning to feel guilty for what she'd done. Of course, Phantom deserved every bit his punishment, but he was just like a stubborn puppy. Paulina had a puppy once. It'd bit her and scarred her perfect porcelain skin. She'd grabbed it and shook it angrily, relishing in its yelped. Only when its head rolled back and became limp did she realized perhaps she'd gone too far. Ah well, no use pondering on past mistakes, she figured.

Paulina put the scrapbook on the coffee table and got up, making her way down the corridor towards her room, no, _their _room. She cracked the door open slightly. It'd been a while since their last encounter. She'd just woken up to get ready to school, but of course, she had time to spare.

She stared curiously at their bed. Phantom was...asleep. She'd done her research prior to capturing him, but she'd never heard of a ghost sleeping. Paulina resisted the urge to squeal. He was just too cute! _This_ was the Phantom she imagined in her dreams. Calm and kind, not that disrespectful foul-mouthed spitting savage she had came in contact with earlier.

Slowly and quietly, she made her way over to his bedside. She could see his face with the soft light of dawn that filtered through the window. It was red and slightly swollen, like he'd gotten a mosquito bite and scratched at it insistently. It looked a lot better than it did ten hours ago though. She was secretly thankful. Paulina had been unsure if his fast healing was all she'd heard it'd be when she'd taken the chance and marred his perfect face.

Gently, she smoothed his hair. He looked peaceful. His tan skin glowed softly, his chest slightly rising and falling. Paulina giggled at the bit of drool on the corner of his mouth. He was even more perfect than she could have ever imagined. Her eyes rolled over his slumbering form, absorbing every single line and curve of his body as if she'd never get the chance to see it again. There were so many details that she hadn't noticed watching him fight.

Like, for example, that there was a soft dust of freckles under his eyes. Light enough to not be there at all. Or his hair, which wasn't a snowy white color like she'd thought it'd be, but a light silver-gray. It was reminiscent of the color of her silver jewelry, his ghostly glow making it seem even more metallic. No one had ever mentioned his smell either.

He smelled like blood and sweat and the minty aroma of nature. Paulina imagined him perched in a tree, peaceful as he was now, watching her lovingly from afar as the sun silhouetted his face.

Perfect as he was, something irked her. It was his darn boots and gloves. They looked lanky, hot, and uncomfortable. She kneeled beside him and grabbed the hem of his glove, peeling it back as she kept an eye on his face in case he decided to wake up. Not that it mattered if he did. It wasn't like he was going to stop her but, but it was just easier for both of them this way.

Paulina discarded the glove somewhere to the side and stared at amazement at his ungloved hand. She lifted his limp hand up tenderly, entwining his fingers with her's. Perfect match. She rubbed the back of his hand against her cheek, relishing in the feel of his skin. It was course and soft all at once, sending pleasant sparks of electricity through her. He stirred slightly in his sleep from the sound of the chains rustling.

She glanced at the digital clock on her nightstand, surprised to find that it was almost time for school. She sighed at the fact that their time had to be cut short. Paulina stood up and dusted herself off, doing one last thing before she set off for the day. She removed the remaining glove and his boots, hoping he'd be comfortable until she got home.

Paulina grabbed her purse and made sure to lock the bedroom door before leaving. She didn't need her parents finding out about this.

* * *

Jazz paced the floor of her living room feverishly. Danny hadn't returned home from the mall, and she needed to leave for school in ten minutes. What if he had run into a ghost? What if he was hurt, broken, bleeding in a ditch somewhere? Or worse, being held captive in the Ghost Zone? She looked at her watch and resumed her pacing. Five more minutes, and then she had to leave for school.

Hopefully she was overreacting, and Danny would arrive at school late but unharmed. She could only hope he hadn't foolishly gone off somewhere without telling her. She'd always made it a priority to know where Danny was, who he was with, how long he was going to be gone, etc. He never told her on her own and she took it upon herself to find out. It could, after all, end up saving his life and he understood that it gave his sister peace of mind.

The fact that she hadn't seen or heard from him for more than half a day made her stomach churn with gruesome thoughts.

* * *

When Danny woke up, he felt like he'd swallowed a gallon of ash. His mouth felt chalky and the back of his throat felt sore and itchy, like he had a cold coming on. He shifted slightly so he didn't have to look at the blank whiteness of the ceiling. His entire body was bruised from the electric shock of the cuffs, his muscles sore and cooked. The room was blurry, he could make out soft patches of color here and there, but his sight wasn't back completely. Danny looked upwards towards the window, trying to make out the time using the shadows on the wall. It was something he learned in one of his astronomy books. He didn't have to though, the harsh orange light was sign enough that it was mid-afternoon and Paulina would be home soon.

"Days of school missed? One." He mumbled to himself. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to miss many before his friends came looking for him. The fact that they'd search the entire Ghost Zone before ever considering he was at Paulina's wasn't reassuring. He had to depend on himself.

He shifted again with that thought as he tried to get into a more comfortable position, his shoulder cracking in protest.

"I knew," he grunted as he tried to sit up straighter, "I should have done something when," maybe if he could be level with the chains, he could gnaw through them, "I discovered that shrine in her locker."

One arm was vertical to his body while the other was bent awkwardly and horizontal. It hurt, but he pushed through the pain and stretched his neck out, mere millimeters away from the chains. Danny sighed and slumped back down. His shoulder now had an aching throb from being pushed past it's limits, even in ghost form.

He realized he couldn't depend on strength alone to get him out of this situation. He had to play it smart. Paulina and only Paulina could help him. He had to convince her somehow, work into her brain that freeing him would benefit her more than keeping him tied up. Although, Danny was never really good at manipulation.

He jumped in surprise when the door handle started to jiggle.

* * *

Paulina pushed against her front door with her shoulder, huffing to herself as she stepped inside. She'd had the worst day at school. First of all, Star was out sick so she'd had to carry all her books herself. She was going to tell Dash to do it, but he'd constantly trailed her to every class, asking questions about Phantom. How was he, where she was keeping him, what she planned to do with him, if he could come over and see him. She wanted to rip her hair out just listening to him babble about Phantom.

"Hmph," she made a little sound and threw her bag onto the couch. "Sometimes I swear, he's more obsessed with him than I am."

Paulina made her way over to the kitchen, opening the fridge and looking for something to eat. She grimaced and quickly shut the door. All her family had was junk and she was trying to watch her figure for Phantom. Speaking of Phantom...

She walked into the hallway where their room was, shocked to see her mom playing with the door knob.

"Mija, why's the door locked?"

"Mama!" Paulina barreled towards the door, blocking the entrance with her body. "My room is off limits. You know that!"

"I was just doing some cleaning," said her mom innocently, motioning towards the vacuum next to her.

"Yeah well, I'm working on a huge project for school and no one is allowed to see it until I'm done. Understand? Don't even come near our—I mean, my room!"

"Of course, Paulie. Just try not to make too much of a mess, okay?"

Paulina grimaced at the nickname and trailed her mother with her eyes as she left the hallway. When she was out of sight, Paulina slumped against the doorway, relieved. That was a close one. Maybe she would have to relocate Phantom after all.

She unlocked the door and stepped inside. Phantom starred at her with wide eyes.

"Was that your mom?"

"No," said Paulina, scowling.

"It was, wasn't it? They don't know I'm here."

Paulina was already one step ahead of him. He opened his mouth to scream and in one graceful movement she clamped her hand down on top of his mouth.

"You listen here, Phantom." Her voice was a low growl next to his ear. He recognized her as a pink and tan blur in the corner of his vision. "If you as so much make a sound, I swear to Dios, I have much worse in stall for you than yesterday. And if you think you're going to get any pity from my parents, you're wrong. They care much more about their princess than they do about some _ghost_."

Once she was sure he wasn't going to make a sound, she removed her hand. "Good boy."

"I'm not your pet," he seethed, struggling again against his restraints.

"But you still belong to me," she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She walked over to her closet. "How's your vision?"

"Not good."

"Your face looks fine."

It was nearly healed now, only red here and there. He should have been able to see perfectly. She wanted to show him her outfits!

"Yeah, well," he said, wiggling his bare feet. Why hadn't he noticed she'd removed his shoes? "Eyes are a lot more sensitive than that, you psycho."

The room was silent for a long time. He'd almost thought she'd left. Then he heard sniffling to his right. He turned his head that way. Judging from the shape of her body, it looked like Paulina was crouched down...crying?

"Paulina?"

"Why are you so _mean to meeee_?"

The dam broke loose. She was sniffling and hiccuping uncontrollably, wiping madly at her face. Danny's expression softened a bit. He hated it when girls cried, especially when it was because of him.

"I'm sorry, Paulina. It's just that when I'm tied up like this, I don't feel very safe. If you free me, I promise I won't leave."

She stopped crying instantly and walked over to the bed, jabbing a finger at his chest.

"NO! I'm never letting you go. You're going to stay with me forever!"

"But how am I going to try on outfits with you with my hands all tied up? Or carry your stuff when we go out for dinner?"

Paulina snorted. "Nice try, Phantom. But you can't con me."

Danny shifted a bit when he felt his stomach rumble. He hadn't eaten in almost a day.

"What was that?" asked Paulina.

"What was what?"

"That!" she pointed a this stomach with almost child-like wonder. "Is that your stomach making noises? I didn't know ghosts had stomachs. Are you hungry?"

"No, that's just my...uh...ectoplasm bubbling."

Paulina frowned and poked him again. "Gross."

"Will you stop poking me!"

"Phantom, are you lying to me?"

Danny was so glad he couldn't see her face clearly. He always was a bad liar when he had to look at someone's face.

"No. That really is my ectoplasm. Why would I have a stomach?" he scoffed. "Ghosts don't have stomachs."

"But just a few minutes ago you said that you wanted to go out to dinner with me."

Danny was at a lost for words. "But—I—I meant that—I would only—"

"I'm going to go get you some food," she said sweetly, patting him on the head. "Wouldn't want you re-dying on me!"

* * *

She returned a few minutes later with a plate of something in her hand. Danny couldn't make it out exactly, just that it was brown.

"Do you like rice? I wasn't sure if you'd like rice."

Danny didn't answer.

"The silent treatment, huh?" She scooped up some of the substance on the spoon, poising it over Danny's mouth. He shrunk into the pillow in an attempt to get away from the food. He didn't want to make her think he was any different from other ghosts, but at the same time, it was probably a good idea to keep his strength up. He cracked his mouth open reluctantly and she shoved the food in harder than she'd intended to. Danny sputtered when the rice hit the back of his throat and he resisted the urge to gag, the food going all over Paulina's bed and his suit.

"I told you, I don't want food," he said, coughing up a storm.

Paulina's eyes narrowed. Did he know she'd put something in it? She didn't even know if it'd work against a ghost. Although, Phantom was unlike any other ghost she'd ever seen. He didn't have a one-tracked mind, like all those other spirits that haunted Amity and were constantly chattering about how they were going to take over the world or something of the sort. What's more, he even looked human. If it weren't for his glow, the far-away, ghostly sound of his voice, and the radioactive green eyes, she wouldn't have thought of him as anything but a normal teenage boy.

No, the drug had to work. The rules that applied to all ghosts didn't always apply to him. She'd realized that when she walked in on him sleeping that morning.

"You're making a mess," she reprimanded. "Stop that and eat."

He sealed his mouth tightly and shook his head side-to-side. Screw keeping up his strength, he wasn't about to give in. Paulina flicked him on the nose and his mouth opened in surprise. She took the opportunity to shovel the food into his mouth, covering his lips with her hand so he had no choice but to swallow. Reluctantly, he swallowed the cold, stale mush.

Paulina removed her hand and caressed his lip lovingly, trailing a path down his neck to his chest and all the way down to his stomach.

"My food is inside of you now," she said wistfully. Danny opened his mouth and then closed it, gaping at her. "Want more?"

"N-no."

"Too bad."

She shoved another spoonful of food at him, missing completely when he ducked his head out of the way. Paulina sighed as she reached into the nightstand and pulled out something that glinted in the light. With his limited vision, Danny could hardly make out what it was.

"What the heck is that?"

"You've made a mess," she said, ignoring his question. "All over your pretty little suit! Bad ghost boy, bad."

Paulina got up and sat on top of him, a knee on each side of his body. She glared down at the mess of half-eaten rice and cookie crumbs. Danny was starting to smell kinda gross too. She'd have to figure out a way to shower him. She couldn't have a dirty boyfriend, that wouldn't do.

She positioned the knife over the neck of his suit and cut downwards. As expected, he reacted violently, twisting his body this way and that in an effort to get her off. She sighed in annoyance and poked the knife into his abdomen.

"Sit still. Wouldn't want me to slip, would you?"

That got him quiet. She cut downwards until about his lower stomach and began flipping him so she cut the back of his suit. He groaned in protest as the ache in his shoulder resurfaced. The shoulder finally broke when Paulina had him turned all the way over. His right arm was rotated a complete 360 degrees and dislocated from the socket, his left struggling to accommodate the new position when his arms were still securely fastened above his head. He screamed and tried harder to throw her off him.

"You crazy b-!"

Paulina scowled and pushed his head forward into the pillow, muffling his screams and angry shouts. She quickly cut down the back, nipping him a couple times when he moved or when she accidentally put too much pressure on the knife. She flipped him back over when she was done and pulled the suit off him, leaving him bare in his boxers.

Paulina stood up and crumpled the ruined suit into a ball, discarding it in a basket.

"I hope you have more of those, 'cause you won't be using that one anymore."

Danny glared at her through half lidded eyes, panting as he tried to regain his breath. His right arm was heavy and limp above his head, the left one aching. His vision was getting better at least. He could make out lines now, everything wasn't a blob of color. He figured it should be back to normal around that time the next day. He shivered when a light breeze from the window hit his exposed, sweaty skin.

Paulina stood next to him, silently assessing his condition. Ectoplasm oozed onto the bed sheet from the shallow cuts in his skin. He looked tired, maybe she should let him sleep. She quickly glanced over at the plate of rice. A fly hovered above it, buzzing as it landed on the food. It would be of no use to her now. She'd just have to try again to knock him out tomorrow. Maybe then she could change the sheets and get him into the shower. She began making her way towards the door.

"Aren't you," Danny paused and licked his lips, trying to get some moisture on them. He would kill for a drink. "Aren't you going to give me some new clothes?"

"No," she said, her back to him. "You look cute like that. Besides, nothing I have will fit you anyway."

Danny watched her exit the room and then slumped back down on the pillow. He couldn't go to sleep now, not with the pain in his shoulder and the vulnerability he felt of being stripped of his suit. Danny turned his head to the side and watched the fly buzz around the room, landing on the window.

"You and me both, buddy," he mumbled solemnly. "You and me both."

* * *

**Thanks to all the lovely reviewers. Hope this chapter didn't disappoint. :)**


	3. Hell Hath No Fury

**Looooooong overdue chapter. I know, sorry guys! I apologize in advance for any typos, I read through this three time and caught quite a few but they slip through sometimes. Replies below-**

** FeliPhantom**: Danny on a leash? Lol! I'll see if I can somehow make that work down the line.

**Crystalbird1769:** Yes, _quite_ awkward. Commence evil cackle~ And that's actually a really good question. I'd supposed since anti-ghost equipment blocks out a ghost's special abilities/powers, and Danny's transformation power kind of just defies the laws of logic and does its own thing, I wouldn't supposed the chains would really stop him from transforming back. But I'm actually not sure hah, the answer is probably in an episode somewhere but I'm too lazy to check.

**Chopsuzi: **Looool! I suppose he did.

**Guest**: Danny and Sam don't really get together at the end of this (I mean Danny has just been through a traumatic experience, Sam. Now is not the time to confess your love!) but I guess it is in a way DxS.

* * *

Jazz absentmindedly rubbed her wrist as she scanned the hallway for Sam and Tucker, her eyes flitting back and forth from person to person. Finally, she spotted the orange beret and made her way over. Tucker shoved something into his backpack and swung it over his shoulder.

"Sam, I'm sure it's a complete-"

Jazz tapped him on the shoulder, interrupting him. Sam turned around and looked up at her curiously. Jazz cleared her throat.

"Have you guys seen Danny anywhere?"

The goth raised an eyebrow. It was true, he had missed her birthday gathering, but she never actually considered he could be in trouble; he was probably just being his usual jerk self.

"No," Sam furrowed her eyebrows, feeling herself going on the defensive. "You mean he's missing?"

Jazz's eyes widened slightly with the affirmation of her worst fear coming true. "Well, I don't know. I mean, he hasn't been home in two days and I put off asking you guys because I thought he was just being-"

"Just being Danny?" Tucker interjected lamely.

"Yeah, just being Danny, but I haven't heard from him or anything and he's usually never gone for this long and the last time we spoke he didn't _seem_ like he was in trouble, and I-"

"Stop rambling already. We need to start looking for him!" Sam stood up straighter and grabbed Jazz by the wrist, hauling her down the hallway with Tucker following behind. Their shoes squeaked loudly on the tile floor, making the emptiness of the hall seem more prominent.

"Where's ground zero?" asked Tucker, pulling out his PDA.

"Ground zero?" asked Jazz. She was startled when she spotted Casper High's entrance looming in the distance. She glanced from the door to Sam and back. "We're not ditching school, are we? I have a calculus exam! I thought we'd wait until after-"

"This can't wait, Jazz. Danny could be seriously hurt!"

Jazz nodded, realizing her calculus exam could wait, and turned her attention back to Tucker.

"What do you mean by 'ground zero'?"

Tucker rolled his eyes. "Where was the last place you saw him?"

"The Mall," answered Jazz immediately. "I dropped him off and everything."

They were outside in the parking lot now. Jazz fished around in her bag furiously for her keys. She found them and opened the door of her convertible, sliding in with ease as Sam and Tucker hopped into the back.

"To the Mall!" Tucker held his hand out dramatically, pointing to somewhere in the distance. Sam smacked him on the back of the head and rolled her eyes.

The ride was spent in an uncomfortable silence, each person lost in their own thoughts and theories. Tucker tapped away at his PDA frantically. Sam turned away from the window to look at him.

"What are you doing?"

He answered without look up. "I'm trying to hack into the Mall's security cameras."

"I take it it isn't going to well?" Sam bit her lip in anticipation.

"Just give me a few more minutes. I need to access the camera's data base but it's just giving me current information. I have to uninstall this codec before I can access a complete history of all the files."

Sam shook her head, not understanding a single word he said. She turned her attention the the window and the parking lot rolled into view. Jazz stopped the car and kept her hands on the wheel, tapping her index finger impatiently.

"So...What now?"

"Look. Look here." Tucker held the PDA to Sam. Jazz scrambled over her seat to be able to catch a glimpse of what they were looking at. There was an alleyway located in the rear of the Mall. A plastic bag blew across the screen. Several seconds passed before a boy in ran into view, his back to the camera.

"Danny," Sam commented. Tucker nodded.

There was a bright flash of light that encompassed the entire screen, and then a ghostly silhouette stood in the boy's place. Jazz ran a hand over her face. "He's so careless. I mean really, how many other security cameras has he transformed in front of?"

A couple of seconds passed before the front bumper of a van rolled into view.

"I think I recognize that van, well, the front of it anyway," said Jazz. She shook her head and furrowed her eyebrows, trying to think of where she remembered the car from. It didn't come to her. The trio continued watching in silence.

"I wish this thing had audio," said Sam. "Who do you think he's fighting? And what's the car there for?"

Tucker huffed. "Beats me."

An arm appeared from the left of the screen near the van. It was small and dainty, holding a glowing net. Sam held her breath when the arms threw the net in the air. A heavy figure came crashing down moments later. Unfortunately, the van rolled up, blocking Danny's attackers from the camera's view. The van rolled away, leaving the area desolate once again.

"He...was _kidnapped_?"

Tucker turned off his PDA and put it in his pocket. "Looks like. We just have to figure out where that van was from."

"We didn't get to see a license plate," grumbled Sam. "And there are about 100 other plain white vans in Amity. Should we just investigate every single one and hope for the best?"

"No, I know that van. Trust me. I just can't remember from where," said Jazz, mumbling the last part. She was sure if she thought hard and long enough, she'd be able to figure out who it belonged to. It was stored somewhere in her brain, ready for use. Jazz turned around in her seat and turned the car on.

* * *

Dash passed something from under his seat to Paulina, who then zipped the object in her purse. She turned around in her seat to face the jock.

"Thanks, Dash," she whispered, the chatter of the classroom drowning her voice out slightly.

"No problem. But this is the _last_ time I steal anything from the Fentons for you. And don't hurt Phantom!"

"I won't!" she retaliated, looking around the classroom for a moment and then seeming satisfied when she confirmed that no one was paying any attention to them. "I just need to intimidate him a bit and get him to do what I want. He's real stubborn," she pouted. "And mean."

"Has anyone seen Danny Fenton? This is the third day he's had an unexcused absence."

The students continued chatting, ignoring the teacher all together. She shrugged and continued with her roll call.

* * *

Danny had had a fairly relaxing morning, consisting of staring at the ceiling and laying completely still. He looked up at the window, squinting when the sun light suddenly invaded his sensitive eyes. It was late afternoon. Paulina would be coming home soon. He sighed and continued to stare out the window, trying to gauge his location. He figured it'd come in handy to know which street he was on when he finally escaped—and he _would_ escape. His eyebrows furrowed. He didn't recognize the scene outside.

Of course, this shouldn't have been odd to him. But constant patrolling and ghost hunting had engraved a map of Amity into his mind—every street, park, alleyway, and crack that provided a safe haven for transforming. He would even go as far to say that he knew Amity better than anyone else in the town. The fact that he didn't recognize where he was greatly distressing. He was just worrying himself, he figured.

Danny turned to the door and counted down the seconds before she'd come barging into the room, probably to inflict some new form of torture on him. The door handle rattled right on cue and Danny smiled to himself.

"Hey, I'm actually getting pretty good at this."

Paulina entered the room carrying an assortment of shopping bags. She kicked the door shut and set the bags down by the wall.

"I'm home!" she said in a sing-song voice. "And guess what, darling? I went costume shopping!"

She dumped the bag content onto the floor. Wigs, scarfs, accessories, and even some very high-end clothing came tumbling out.

"I also bought this," she held out a bulky Polaroid camera. Except, she was holding it upside down. "For the scrapbook!"

Danny scrunched up his face and smiled, giving her an overly cheerful and obviously sarcastic expression. "Oh, how delightful!"

"Right?" she flipped her hair over her shoulder. "_So_ glad you're finally seeing it my way."

Paulina walked up to the foot of the bed. She looked Danny up-and-down, grimacing at the sweat that caked his hair to his head and the splotches of dried up food and ectoplasm on him. He squirmed uncomfortably under her gaze.

"But first, you must clean yourself up."

She walked over to the side of the bed and pulled pliers out of the nightstand. Danny's heartbeat picked up speed at the sight of Paulina holding a sharp object.

"Wh-What exactly are you doing?"

He cringed away sharply when the pliers came towards him. Danny cracked an eye open, feeling slightly deluded when he saw the pliers poised on the chains around his wrists.

"Your letting me go?"

"No, silly!"

He knew he shouldn't have held his breath. She paused and put the pliers down on the nightstand and walked over to another corner of the room, pulling something out of her purse. It was a regular gun, he figured, until she got closer. It was decorated in green accents and had a neon green "F" on the handle part. F for Fenton. It was a ghost weapon. Paulina turned it around in her hand, watching it with amazement.

"Phantom, I want to make it very clear to you that if I even think you're trying anything, I _will _shoot you."

_No you won't,_ Danny mused in his mind, remembering the time when she disrupted Lancer's class because she had spotted a spider under her desk. The entire football team and gotten out of their seats just to kill it for her, comforting her when she began tearing up from "fear". She wouldn't shoot him. She couldn't.

"...and the reason I'm trusting you is because all great relationships are built on trust. If I can't trust you, why should I expect you to trust me? I mean I'd just _love _to give you a shower on my own, but I don't want to force you into anything you're not ready for. And I want to wait until we're married," she paused and blushed, squealing and jumping on the balls of her feet. "Oh, I can just imagine it! We'd be so cute!"

Danny resisted the urge to gag. She picked up the pliers, the gun in her other hand, inching towards the chains. She paused once again.

"And I wasn't planning on telling you this, but don't try and phase through the walls. It's infused with Ecto-ranium."

"_What_?"

Paulina smirked, delighting in the fact that Phantom always underestimated her. "We're at my grandparent's lake house just outside of Amity. It's where we come to relax, so my family was smart enough to hire people to make it ghost-proof! Isn't it wonderful? During the spring, I think I spend more time here than I do at our main house." Paulina giggled.

Just peachy.

Then she shrugged and moved in towards the chains. Time seemed to pass in slow-motion, the distance between the mouth of the pliers and the chains feeling infinite. Finally, they were severed with a _snap_. The green chains crumbled around him like hair. Danny didn't move for countless seconds, feeling the blood rush back into his hands. His arms felt stiff. When he moved, the pain came to him quite suddenly. His brain had registered the act of his arms being jolted, the shoulder grating against its socket. He sucked air in sharply through a half-open mouth. Paulina lowered the gun.

"Phantom? Phantom are you okay?"

Danny let out the breath and cradled one arm with the other to keep it still. Paulina had unknowingly kept him from acting. Under normal circumstances, he would have been able to restrain her and fly out of there within milliseconds of her cutting the chains. He'd already lost the element of surprise, and he was in too much pain to do anything now. He crawled over to the edge of the bed and stood up, swaying slightly.

"The bathroom is over there." Paulina pointed to another corner of the room with the weapon.

Danny walked over, feeling Paulina's gun on his back the entire way. What if she accidentally applied too much pressure and shot it? Would his friends ever find him? Or would Paulina bury his human body in her backyard and never think about him again? Danny shook his head, he couldn't afford to think like that.

The bathroom door creaked open. The white fluorescent light causing him to squint. He stepped inside and glared at the perfect porcelain walls. It was a bigger bathroom than he was used to. Everything was blindly white—even the marble sink and the counter with its gold accents. If this was what her "lake house" bathroom looked like, he wondered what her actual bathroom looked like. He turned around when he heard the door squeaking shut.

"I'm trusting you," reminded Paulina before shutting the door completely.

Danny's shoulders slumped and his muscles relaxed. He was finally alone. He made his way over to the huge mirror that encompassed one side of the room. On the counter in front of it was a sink and Paulina's makeup. Nothing that seemed of use to him. His eyes trailed upwards and for the first time in three days he looked at himself in a mirror. He smirked slightly at how disheveled his hair looked, caked with ectoplasm and sweat and some unknown substance. Maybe he could use that shower after all.

He'd have to pop his shoulder back into place first. He gripped the underside of the counter. It hurt bad enough when Sam did it, he wasn't sure if he could do it himself. Hey, what was a little more pain? Danny figured. He distanced the arm from his body so that it was in a ninety degree angle, and then shutting his eyes, he pulled down on the arm with his other hand.

His legs gave way and he crumbled onto his knees, taking shallow breaths as he rotated his arm. Paulina knocked on the door when she heard him grunt.

"Is everything okay, Phantom? I don't hear the shower running!"

Danny bit his lip, unable to find any words. He was having difficulty simply taking in enough air. "Guh!"

"What? Okay, I'm coming in!"

"N-No! Everything's fine. Just give me a second!"

"'Kay! Hurry up!"

When the searing pain finally subsided, Danny stood up and turned on the sink. He splashed the cool water over his face and ran it through the tips of his hair. He cupped it in his hands and drank it, relishing in the feeling of his tongue soaking up the liquid like a dried sponge. Satisfied, he turned around and leaned on the counter. Danny looked around the room for something potentially useful. There was nothing. He didn't think Paulina would actually chance giving him the opportunity to gain the upper hand, the bathroom was obviously emptied. At the same time, she was unpredictable. He didn't know her like he knew his enemies. He sighed and walked over to the shower, turning it on just to give the illusion that he was using it.

He lied down on one of the rugs that decorated the larger-than-normal bathroom. After awkwardly adjusting his boxers, Danny placed his hands behind his head and enjoyed the leisure of not being tied to a bed. That's when he noticed it, a small air vent in the ceiling. He floated up to it cautiously. It wasn't big enough to crawl through—besides, he doubted that ever went as smoothly as it did in the movies—but Danny was notorious for his resourcefulness. He bit his lip in thought. He poked the ceiling, not surprised when it sent a shock through him. From his proximity, he could see the small green specks of Ecto-ranium in the ceiling.

As an after-though, he formed an ectoball in his hand, just to confirm that his powers were still intact. If he were able somehow cool the ventilation system, it could cause Paulina to leave the doorway long enough for him to exit through the window in her bedroom. He bit his lip nervously. Danny raised his hand and grabbed the lid of the vent, tugging on it slightly to remove it. When it didn't budge, he unintentionally tugged to hard and it slipped from his hands, sending the lid crashing downwards.

The door was shoved open violently. There stood Paulina, her blue eyes looking reminiscent of an ocean in the midst of a storm—angry, hectic, unforgiving. The lighting erased even the slightest wrinkle of her's, making her look like a deranged China doll. Danny couldn't really say he'd been afraid of Paulina up until that moment. The shower continued to run despite the tangible silence in the room. Something tore into his leg before he was able to even register what had happened—Paulina had shot the gun. He hadn't seen it nor heard it, too frozen with fear as he gazed into Paulina's rage filled glare. Then another ripped its way through his shoulder. Out of reflex alone, he went intangible, and it flickered away as soon as it came. Whatever properties the gun had made it feel as if fire was pooling in his limbs. The pain seemed inexhaustible. The floor rose up to meet him and the world went black.


	4. Doctor, Doctor

**Going to keep this short because it's 4 am and I'm tired. Replies will happen next chapter. **

**Slight gore warning.**

* * *

Paulina stood still in the door way, a line of smoke billowing upwards from the mouth of the gun. Slowly, she inched towards where Phantom had collapsed. She put the gun down on the bathroom counter. Something that struck her in an odd way was how tangible he was beginning to look. He didn't look at ghostly as he usually in did. In fact, she could even go as far as to say she could see beads of sweat rolling down his back.

"What the...?" she mused to herself, crouching down text to him. Not very gently, she turned him over on his back. The corner of his lip curling upwards being the only sign of his discomfort. Tenderly, Paulina pushed back pieces of his bangs that were stuck to his forehead.

Oh, how she hated to hurt him. She truly did. What she hated even more though, was seeing him blinded by his ignorance and cold-stone heart. Years of being a ghost had hardened him. He could not feel—or rather, understand—love, she reasoned. Even worse, he was almost as stubborn as she was. How was she going to make him realize he loved her without breaking every bone in his metaphysical body?

Once, long long ago, when she was about six or so, she'd had a crush on one of the boys in her first grade class. She hadn't known what her feelings were at the time, she just knew that she wanted his attention. No matter what she did, no matter how pretty her art was, no matter how much she asked to play tag with him, no matter how many of her sandwiches she let him have a bite of, he wouldn't notice her. Then, one day, out of the blue, he fell off the slide and twisted his ankle. She'd been the only one around at the time and had helped him up and hobbled with him to the nurse's office. He mumbled thank's to her the entire way.

Soon after, he went back to ignoring her. She'd push him off the swings sometimes, just so he'd need her again. It was odd, she mused, how physical pain could bring two people together. Beautiful in a way. Right now, Phantom needed her, and she wasn't going to deny him her love and attention. Hooking her hands under his shoulders, she began dragging him back into the room.

She flopped Danny up on the bed with a grunt. The path from the bathroom to the bed had left her exhausted. For a ghost, Phantom was a lot heavier than he looked. Her lips pursed when she noticed the trail of ectoplasm his body had left behind.

She'd have to call Dash to help her clean up. That thought didn't please her. She went into the bathroom and grabbed a damp wash cloth and hurried back to his bedside. With shaky hands she rubbed the damp cloth on his face and on his arms and chest, applying more pressure where the bullet wounds were in order to scrub off the ectoplasm. The deep crater-like wounds in his shoulder and calf were completely coated with the green substance that continued to pool out little by little. Her eyebrows crinkled. Why wasn't he healing?

Her brow wrinkled even more when she realized the water had evaporated almost immediately once it came in contact with his skin. She touched his forehead with the back of her hand and frowned when she realized he felt hotter than was normal for even human standards.

Was it possible for a ghost to get sick?

She grabbed the bag of clothes that she'd brought home with her earlier in the day and picked out a black t-shirt and some red basketball shorts. She slipped the t-shirt over his head and tried as best as she could to get the shorts on him. Once he was dressed, she began the meticulous task of re-securing his hands to the headboard with the chains. When she was done, she stepped back to admire her handy work.

Still, there was the problem of why he wasn't healing. She'd seen him get hit by a hunter's ectogun on plenty of occasions. He'd returned the next day seemingly unharmed. Whatever the reason was, Phantom probably knew it. Maybe there was a medicine he had to take in order to combat the effects of the ectoblasts?

"Phamtom," she whispered softly in an attempt to wake him up. He didn't stir. "Phantom!"

Still no response. Frustrated, she slapped him across the cheek a couple times. His head lolled around. "Phantom, get up!"

She thrust the nail of her index finger into his shoulder wound, smiling in triumph when he jolted up suddenly. He blinked blearily around the room, gauging his location.

"Why aren't you healing, Phantom? Do you need aspirin or something? I think you have a fever."

Danny opened and closed his mouth a couple times, feeling it dry and chapped again. His head also felt like it was being drilled by a jackhammer. Paulina was right. This definitely wasn't normal.

"Wha-huh did you shoot me wiff?" he mumbled, his headache and fatigue making it hard to concentrate. Paulina had to strain to hear.

"Uhhhh," she looked around for the gun, and then remembering the bathroom counter, went to go retrieve it.

"With this." She held it out for him to see.

It definitely belonged to his parents, but he didn't recognize it as one of their inventions. It had to have been new.

"The gun doesn't have any ectoplasm purification filters on the outside. Almost all anti-ghost weapons have that feature. As the name implies, they purify and entity's ectoplasm and allow a rechargeable amount of ectoplasm to be used against any ghost. The gun you have there looks like a regular .44 revolver."

Paulina looked puzzled. "How do you know all that stuff?"

"Comes with the job."

"Okay..." she said, trailing off. "What now?"

"The gun probably uses actual bullets instead of ectoplasm. Can you take out the bullets for me to examine?"

"Alright!" she chirped. "How?"

He pointed out the parts to her and after a bit of difficulty and error, she managed to dismantle the gun. She held out the bullets for Phantom to see. They looked like any other bullet, but glowed green.

"Anti-ghost bullets," he mused more to himself than Paulina. "Never heard of that before. They must have pure ectoplasmic cores. No wonder I'm reacting so negatively."

"Sorry, I didn't know," said Paulina, sounding like she was more apologetic for the burden she was inflicting upon herself rather than the pain she was causing him.

"I don't seem to have any exit wounds. Unless I can remove the bullets from my body, the infection will spread. The outcome won't be good for me."

Paulina shifted uncomfortably. He wanted her to remove the chains again, he meant to say. She wasn't about to take that chance.

"Well, can't you just go intangible and have the bullets drop out or something?"

"If they were regular bullets, yes. Since these are anti-ghost, it won't work. Besides, I can't go intangible with these chains on, can I?"

Paulina's face suddenly seemed to harden. "Then I'll do it."

"You'll do what?"

"I'll help take out the bullets."

Danny paled and his jaw dropped slightly. "I _really_ don't think that's a good idea."

She glared daggers at him. "Don't think I can do it?"

Danny chuckled dryly. "Honestly? No. I don't. If anything, you'll mess me up even more. Because that's all you seem to be able to do."

Her hand twitched with the need to slap him. "You ungrateful bastard," her voice was dangerously calm. "After all I've done for you? I bring you into my home, into my heart. I feed you, I tend to you, I care for you, I provide for you, and love you unconditionally. What more could you want from me? My heart on a platter?"

Her gaze softened. Phantom was glaring at her like he glared at his enemies in the heat of battle. It was that resolve that she had first made her fall for him. He was a knight, a hero, a warrior—and he was wounded in more ways than she could count. He was faced with enemies and monsters that constantly wanted to destroy him, of course he wouldn't realize that she loved him when hate was all he faced from a day to day basis. Scolding him would get her nowhere. She had to prove that she earnestly cared about him.

"Oh, my Phantom darling dear," she swooned softly. "I'll make you all better, just watch and see. Don't be scared."

She cupped his face in her hand and caressed his cheek with her thumb, not bothered in the least when he flinched away. Then she set out to find a pair of tweezers. She wasn't about to let a measly ol' infection claim her Phantom when he already belonged to her.

* * *

The truth of the matter was (even if Jazz didn't want to admit it), she had no leads. The security tape had lead her to a dead end. She racked her brain for a list of all the people she knew who'd have a white van, none came up. Time and time again, it was the same. If only the security camera had been angled a bit higher so that it captured the ghost fight. Whoever Danny had been fighting that day probably knew of his whereabouts.

Then again, at least that cleared up one fact. It couldn't have been hunters that captured Danny. They wouldn't have taken Danny and left the other ghost roaming free. It had to have been someone who had a specific interest in Phantom. The GIW, maybe, although it felt unlikely. The arm that had flashed on screen didn't look like it had been wearing the GIW uniform.

That only left the Red Huntress, which didn't feel likely either. She'd told her parents that Danny had gone on a camping trip with a group of boys from school, but who knew how long that excuse would last.

Jazz looked up suddenly when she heard loud footsteps coming up the stairs to her room. Jack opened the door and peaked inside.

"Jazzums, you wouldn't happen to know where the Fenton Magnum is, would you?"

Jazz sighed dryly. Another one of her dad's newest inventions gone missing.

"No, dad. You sure you didn't just misplace it again?"

Jack paused for a moment, seeming puzzled. He scratched the back of his head.

"No, no, I'm sure I put it on the lab table." He deflated like a balloon. "There goes another one. And I really liked the Fenton Magnum, too."

The door shut with an audible click.

Now that she kind of thought on it, it was odd how these inventions were suddenly going missing. What he father lacked in organization abilities, her mother made up for 110% percent. The first gadget had vanished into thin air about 3-4 days ago, around the time Danny had disappeared. She remembered it crystal clear. Danny had been rushing around the house, pop-tart in mouth and hopping on one leg trying to tie his shoe lace. He was going to be late _again_. She'd been waiting by the doorway for him to finish up. Her mother had come up the stars of the lab, asking if they'd seen their Fenton Anti-Spook Net anywhere, and had shrugged it off when informed that they hadn't. Next, it'd been the anti-ghost chains. Now, the Fenton Magnum.

Jazz traced a pattern on her knee absentmindedly in thought. In fact, she could have sworn she'd seen a ghost catching net on the security tape. If that net was the same one that her parents had lost, it meant whoever Danny's captor was had been in their home. And in most cases, unless they were a ghost, had been let in voluntarily. That thought made a chill run through Jazz's spine.

* * *

When Paulina returned a moment later, the sheet under Phantom had been soaked green with ectoplasm. Her eyes began to water at the strong scent of the green goo—a musty, acidic, rotten-egg smelling substance. There was something else there, something more coppery. Paulina set the tweezers down by the nightstand and examined Phantom a bit more closely. She rolled up the sleeve of his shirt first and took a look at his shoulder. The bullet had been angled up, and had consequently grazed one half of his chest, leaving 4-inch gash. The spot where it had entered was already beginning to close over despite not showing any signs of internal healing, considering how the wound was still pooling with ectoplasm. His calf didn't look like it was fairing too well either. Here, it had been a direct shot. The hole was deeper, the skin trying unsuccessfully to heal over the bullet. It rose like the crater of a volcano and folded in on itself.

"Guess I better get started on these then," said Paulina, not wanting to admit how truly grossed out she was. _For Phantom,_ she reminded herself. _Only for Phantom._

Danny hadn't been sleeping, just resting. When he opened his eyes, the silhouette of Paulina against the setting sun reminded him of his sister. Of when she'd stay up past her bed-time to read story books to him because Mom and Dad were too busy in the lab. He purred contently.

"That's right, Phantom. I'll fix you up all good and dandy. You don't have to be the hero anymore! How nice is that?"

Paulina's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He blinked up at her, suddenly feeling very grounded and claustrophobic.

"It'd be even better if you let me go."

"Not happening," she said happily, dampening some toilet paper with whiskey. Her actions went unnoticed as he stared right passed her. He couldn't believe it. He, Danny Phantom, enemy of all ghosts, defeater of Pariah Dark, was going to die at the hands of a teenage girl.

Paulina placed the soaked tissue on his shoulder. He hissed in response, being used to far worse pain. Using the tweezers, she pushed the tissue directly into the wound and pressed down.

"Hm," she mused. "That's weird. I still can't see anything. Do you think it needs more alcohol?"

Danny didn't respond, to wrapped up in his own pain to even register that Paulina was talking.

"It'd be dangerous to dig around for the bullet without a clear sight of it, so I'll just add a little more..."

She grabbed the bottle of whiskey—a cheap one from her dad's "secret" stash—and dumped it directly onto the wound. Danny's eyes flew opened and he inhaled sharply, feeling like the alcohol was pooling acid into the wound.

"Y-you're not helping, Paulina. _Please_ just leave this to someone who knows what the hell they're doing," he panted through lidded eyes.

"Of course I'm helping! Look, it's all clear of ectogunk now. You just shut your trap," Paulina grabbed the alcohol and ectoplasm soaked tissue and stuffed it into his mouth.

Using her thumb and index finger, she pried the wound opened further, revealing the torn muscle and ligament underneath. Danny squirmed under her touch, hands squeezed into knuckle-white fists.

"That's so _cool_. It's like, you're a ghost, but you have everything a human has," she said with amazement. Then she frowned. "At least, I think you do. This thing right here doesn't look right." She poked at a piece of his flesh with the tweezers.

Danny was, in every sense of the word, exhausted. His body would not react despite the immeasurable pain. He resolved to bite down and bare it, feeling the ectoplasm flavored whiskey burn trails down his throat.

"Whatever, it's not like I actually passed anatomy."

Wiping some caked ectoplasm off of the tweezers on the bed-sheets, she poised them over the wound.

Phantom's eyes looked like two green saucers as he blinked at Paulina.

"Paurinah-" he said in a muffled voice. "Paurinah, puhrease dontah."

There was no point in bargaining, she already had her mind set. He doubted she was even listening. Danny wasn't prepared when she dug the sharp tip of the tweezers straight down into wound and started wiggling it around. She opened and closed the mouth of the utensil blindly, hoping to chance on the bullet. The crater in his shoulder began bleeding profusely again and tears stung the corners of his eyes. Whether from pain or the acidity of his own ectoplasm, he couldn't tell.

Distraught that she wasn't chancing on anything, Paulina dug even farther, forgetting that the bullet was probably higher up in his shoulder due to the angle which it had entered. Her tongue stuck out in concentration, and every now and then she'd wipe away the excess ectoplasm with a damp whiskey-soaked tissue.

His muscles tensed and relaxed with every flick of her wrist. The sound of her digging around inside him became one of the worst memories of his life—a suction sound where his flesh would wrap around the metal and then be pulled apart again, the bubbling of his ectoplasm and blood as they seeped out from between the torn, smashed, and pummeled muscle, sounding like some odd alien. It even pulsed as if it were alive.

"Think happy thoughts," he chanted in his mind. "Think happy thoughts."

Danny closed his eyes, pictures of Sam and puppies and video games and greasy burgers calming him if only for the moment.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, she chanced upon something hard. Switching the tweezers from her right hand to her left, she began scraping until she was sure that it wasn't another muscle group. She grasped the small, hard object in between the tweezers and pulled. It didn't budge, so she opted to dig in and grab it herself. The tweezers had created an easy path for her fingers to find the object. Grasping the bullet this time between her two fingers, she yanked. Hard.

The strangled cry that escaped Danny was a few octaves short of a Ghostly Wale.

"Weird," said Paulina, turning the bullet around in her bloody hand to examine it. "Doesn't look much like a bullet...one down, one to go."


End file.
